Chef Tom pulls out the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for his famous No-Wrap Pork Butt! Perfectly tender meat with big flavor and an unbeatable bark!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Opening the seam near the bone to trim from the inside reaches fat and connective tissue that trimming the outside alone would leave behind
- Injecting in a grid pattern, then wiggling the needle to open a pocket before filling it, distributes marinade more evenly than a single straight injection would
- Pressing the first rub into the meat before adding a second layer builds a two-stage crust, so both rubs actually stick rather than the second layer sliding off a loose first coat
- Leaving the butt undisturbed on the grill for the entire cook, with no wrap and no spritzing, lets the bark form uninterrupted instead of being reset every time the surface gets wet again
No-Wrap Pork Butt
Tom Jackson
Rated 4.9 stars by 16 users
Category
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Servings
12
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
8 hours
Calories
375
Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for his No-Wrap Pork Butt. It's as easy as it sounds and produces an incredible bark with big smoke flavor!
Ingredients
-
1 Creekstone Farms Duroc Boston Butt Pork Shoulder
-
1 cup Smoke on Wheels Pork Marinade
-
Meat Church Honey Bacon BBQ Rub
-
Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub
-
Plowboys BBQ Tarheel Tang BBQ Sauce
Directions
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 260ºF.
- Before beginning to trim the pork butt, feel around the roast and trim any small bone fragments or hard cartilage that may be left on the surface. Score the fat cap about 1/4” deep. Flip the butt over and trim any excess fat on the surface. Find the seam near the bone side. Begin to pull the crevice open and carefully cut in-between the two muscles. Trim the excess fat, connective tissue and anything that is not meat from the inside of the opening.
- Inject the butt with Smoke on Wheels Pork Injection & Marinade inserting the needle every couple of inches in a grid pattern. After inserting the needle, move it around a bit to create a pocket and fill the pocket with injection until it begins to come back out.
- Pat the surface of the roast mostly dry with paper towels. Shake on a generous layer of Meat Church Honey Bacon BBQ Rub on all surfaces, including inside the crevice where you trimmed the fat and tissue earlier. Press the rub into the meat to help it attach, then season with Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub . Allow the rub to soak in to the meat at least 10 minutes before transferring to the grill.
Place the pork butt on the main cooking grate of the grill, on the far right side.
- Smoke the pork butt undisturbed until the internal temperature reaches 205ºF in the deepest part of the roast. Remove from the grill.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why open the seam near the bone before trimming, instead of just trimming the outside?
Pulling the crevice open and cutting between the two muscles reaches fat and connective tissue on the inside of the roast that trimming only the exterior surface would leave untouched.
Why wiggle the injector needle to create a pocket before filling it?
Moving the needle around after inserting it opens a small pocket inside the meat, so the marinade spreads out and fills that space rather than just pooling along the needle's straight path.
Why press the first rub into the meat before adding the second?
Pressing the Honey Bacon rub in first gives it something to adhere to before the Yardbird rub goes on top. Without that step, the second layer would have a harder time sticking to a loose, unset first coat.
Why leave the pork butt completely undisturbed for the whole cook instead of wrapping or spritzing it?
No wrapping and no spritzing means the surface never gets reset back to wet, so the bark builds continuously over the full smoke instead of being interrupted and having to re-form.
What internal temperature should the pork butt actually reach?
This recipe smokes it to 205°F, well above the USDA minimum of 145°F for whole-muscle pork. That higher target is what breaks down the tough connective tissue for pulling, not a food safety requirement it clears the safety bar much earlier in the cook.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
1 out of 5 this is an 8-hour cook built entirely around a pellet grill's low, steady wood smoke. An oven can render the pork tender, but you'll lose the bark and smoke flavor this recipe is named for.
Recipe Highlights
Inside-seam trimming: Removes fat and connective tissue that outside trimming alone would miss.
Grid-pattern injection with pockets: Distributes marinade more evenly than straight injection lines.
Two-stage rub application: Presses the first layer in so the second one actually sticks.
Fully undisturbed smoke: No wrap or spritz means the bark builds without interruption.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 8.13 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 375
- Carbs
- grams
- Protein
- 35 grams
- Fat
- 24 grams
- Sodium
- 279 milligrams
